01/26/2012

Shhh...it's my Ma's 40th birthday tomorrow and I want to surprise her with donations to her Relay For Life of Monrovia page. As I think about it more, it's not just important to raise dollars for the American Cancer Society, but it's important to bring friends together for a great cause and for my Ma's birthday.

Any and all support is greatly appreciated, but what Ma wants the most for her birthday weekend is to hang out with as many friends as possible doing what she loves...making a difference! Relay For Life is about creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays, will you join my Ma in celebrating her 40th?

I have everything I need and everything I want, and since I AM the Donation Dog, I've decided that I would like to receive donations in my honor for some very important causes, instead of physical gifts. I'm thinking a $12 donation is very reasonable, considering most people spend about $20 on a gift, and that $12 would be going to a worthy cause. "What causes?", you ask...well, here's a small list of the causes that are near and dear to my heart:

They are all very important to me and I'm leaving it up to your heart to pick where your dollars will go. I would like to thank you for your donation and count it toward my total donations for my birthday, so remember to write in that the donation is in honor of Bicycle Havens. If you prefer to make your $12 donation in person or via mail, email me at bicycle@twodogspaws.com.

Bicycle The Donation Dog and ﻿Two Dogs Petsitting will be collecting pet food and monetary donations to benefit the ﻿Foothill Unity Center 's ﻿Pet Food Bank . Bicycle recently gathered donations to purchase pet food and donated about 125 pounds of dog and cat food. His goal is to gather another 375 pounds of food to make it 500 pounds in January! Every bag or can of food donated will earn you a raffle ticket for a super duper ﻿Unleashed prize. You'll be feeding needy pets right here in our community, receive a chance to win a cool prize, and get to meet Bicycle! Please join us.

Q: "I have a basic one! I've been meaning to ask for a long time. How did you get your name, Bicycle? Its a fine name!"--from Sandy Buckholtz on Facebook

Bicycle: Well, when I was born a stray to a stray, with 8 other pups (one sadly passed away within a few days), on the side of a local bike trail, a friend of my mom's, Liz, who happens to be a veterinarian now, picked us up. My mom was at a local animal hospital with Liz, at the time, and when we were brought in for exams, my mom volunteered to take two of us boys home, temporarily. Right, like she would ever get away with that!The other boy she took home got the name Congo because she said he looked like a big ape. One of my other brothers is named Brick Bogshepherd. Silly names we have! And I didn't get a name right away because my mom and dad couldn't agree. My dad really, really wanted to keep me, but my mom kept saying,"No...no more dogs. Tye is crazy and we don't need two of him." Well, after two months of having our own bedroom together and learning how to be dogs, Congo went to his new home and my mom completely caved in and dad got to keep me! Yesss!Mom couldn't have a nameless dog, but wasn't fond of any of the names dad was coming up with. Dad worked on bicycles and they enjoyed cycling together, so dad thought, "It's worth a try, what about Bicycle?" Mom thought it was silly.She pondered and pondered until one day decided that Bicycle was the best name for me. It made sense, after all. All of her friends made fun of my name, but she stuck with it. Then dad moved and mom got to keep me all to herself! To this day, she says that she's the luckiest girl alive to have such a great boy!That's the whole story about how I got my name and how I got to stay with my mom (boy am I lucky!!). The funny thing is I don't really like bicycles or other wheeled things, except for cars. Thanks for asking such a great question!

In honor of Thanksgiving, I will be on Facebook all day and through Black Friday to take any questions or jokes (I love the jokes!). You know, for your convenience.

Thanks to this Facebook thing, I have so many friends from across the globe. I am very grateful for all of you and glad we can come together in good fun and talk dog. Thank you for your Facebook Friendship :-) If you're not my "friend", you should be! --->Bicycle

Facebook Conversations:

Ms. Dunklee: What's the best part of the turkey, Bike? --just curious about your turkey preferences :)

Bicycle: Oh, well that's very sweet of you, Ms. Dunklee :-) Are you flirting with me?To answer your question, I don't think I've ever had turkey before, but I would probably really like the turkey leg. Seems like something I could get into :-) Hey, ...maybe I'll ask my Ma to let me try a little piece!!

Ms. Dunklee: ﻿Moi? Flirting? Well, may just a little -- I'm a sucker for a handsome male, you know. I do think you should ask your Ma for a taste of the turkey leg -- you're going to love it!

I'm all excited for my first bite of turkey. Is it anything like Tofurkey? Cuz that stuff taste like socks.

Thanks for saying I'm handsome ;-)

Linda T.: Not to get too clinical, but ... how do you keep a doggie diaper on an incontinent geriatric doggie who should be named Houdini? Suspenders, maybe?

Bicycle: That's an excellent question!!My first thought is to hike the diaper up so high it sits just below the dog pits, but then I think of my Great Grandmother and change my mind. That's probably not such a good idea for dogs. Humans, do what you... will.Have you tried using a dog t-shirt as an anchor? You can stick or sew velcro or buttons on the top of the diaper & bottom of the shirt (obviously, measuring it out so it fits comfortably) so the diaper can't be pulled off without your help. It's my best idea on this subject, but I try not to think about getting older. And I am trying not to come up with too many ideas that my Ma would use on me some day ;-)

"Well, that's just crazy!"Bicycle: Those are great questions! I have all the answers on this one:

Craziest thing I've eaten is 4 boxes of Buddy Biscuits. They were pretty securely stacked, but I couldn't resist. I was just trying to help bag them for the Relay For Life of Monrovia the day before, but I guess I ate a few instead. A few too many (boxes!) that sent me to the hospital for the night and gave me aspirate pneumonia from all the puking I did. The bill was close to $1500 for one night, I could've died, and I was sick for weeks. I'd say that was definitely NOT worth it!

Okay, this one is grosser than gross! The craziest thing I've ever stepped on is Old Man Myrtle, our tortoise. Did you know those kind of rocks move? Sheesh! Craziest thing I've stepped in was somebody else's poop. I held my "crappy toe" up for my mom to clean. My own, sure, who doesn't do that once in awhile, but someone else's? Blech! Definitely not my first choice and NOT worth it.

Craziest outfit? That might be a trick question, since I love all of my gear. Maybe the Hoodie Clause outfit from last year. Man, was that nuts! I had fun and got some yummy treats, so I'd say that was well WORTH IT!

Tiberius is crazy through and through! This question is easy to answer. Tye always tries to bite my ankles while I'm walking. He trips me up all the time! He's a cool brother, so I guess it's WORTH IT!

I've been sick a lot in my day, but the craziest thing that ever made me sick was an overdose on a medication that was supposed to make me better. Nutso, right? I was on a low dose of some kind of white pill, but it was just too much for me. I got dizzy and couldn't stand up at all. My head was spinning for days and I couldn't even keep my eyes from going crazy. I think that must be like being drunk all the time. That week long hospital stay cost my mom like a whole year of dog food. NOT worth it, not at all :-(

The dog park is a weird place and I don't really keep track of all the weirdness anymore. If i were to recall the craziest thing I've ever experienced, I'd have to say the big white dog with the dirty guy on a bicycle that tried to attack me. I growled at him to leave me alone and the dirty guy tried to pull me by the collar, yelled at my mom, and said I shouldn't be there if I "couldn't take it". Well, if you know my mom, you know she would never stand for anyone putting a hand on any dog, especially us! I really thought she was going to punch him, but she just yelled back saying something about his testicles needing to be removed (the dog's, not the man's--at least, I think that's what she meant). That one was half WORTH IT because I really enjoy it when she stands up for dog's rights to speak up when another dog is hurting them, but it was kind of an icky experience.

"Oh, poop!"Bicycle: That's disgusting. Poop is the worst thing in the universe and I don't touch the stuff (well, mostly). As for some of my canine pals (and gross brother, Tye--actually, he just likes tortoise & cat poop), that's called Coprophagia. Here's a link to 20 reasons why: http://www.pet-comfort-products.com/why-dogs-eat-poop.html

I personally, am completely disgusted by other dog's poop and don't understand, but cat poop is a whole other subject ;-) All I'm going to say about that is that you might want to ask my mom where my mouth has been BEFORE letting me kiss you.

"Play that funky music--or not"Bicycle: That is such a great question, Jill! I personally like the Light Classical station on T.V. (I watch T.V., too.), especially in the evenings. During the day, I enjoy a bit of Soft Roft or Classical. I hear some dogs enjoy Country, but I was a little on edge with that. Here's a link that may help answer that question even further: suite101.comThank you so much for asking what I like :-)

Q: "Hey, Bike! How come you and Tye are so well-behaved? And how come some dogs are completely out of control? Is there any hope that all dogs will one day be as cool as you?"--from Jake's mom in Arcadia

"The Cool Kids"--the key to well-behaved dogs.

Bicycle (with special guest, Tiberius): First, Thank you so much for the compliments! You are very sweet :-) Our Mom works hard to provide good food, lots of exercise & playtime, and plenty of fun outtings to make sure we are as happy & healthy as possible. When we were puppies, we went so many places with her and learned how to be socialand polite. She doesn't punish us, but rewards us when we do things that make her proud. I think that's called "positive reinforcement", but I'm no expert. For example, if we are polite when company comes over, she lets us stay in the livingroom with them and we get lots of pets and attention, but if we are jerky to guests, we have to go back to our room and don't get to hang with the people. Tiberius: Sometimes, I like to jump on people, then we have to go back to our room. Bike hates it when I ruin the fun for him. Bicycle: You are so right! I hate that! Whatdya say you stop doing that, bro? Tiberius: Stop trying to change me.

Bicycle: Back to the questions...As for the dogs that don't have manners: Some dog owners may not know how important it is to work with their dogs starting at a young age. So, when these puppies get older & bigger, and haven't been taught the basic things such as sit, stay, come, etc., they don't know how to act, which makes it hard for them (and the people around them) to enjoy social activities. Not every dog is lucky enough to have owners that take all the time they need to train them as pups. Tiberius: And not all owners are lucky like our mom, cuz we were great puppies! Bicycle: Oh, puhlease! You were the worst puppy ever! I was the angel :-) Tiberius: Yeah, you're right, I was pretty terrible. I'll give you that one.

Bicycle: I'm not sure if any dog can be as cool as I am. It comes naturally for me, but not for most. A good starting point is basic training and socialization, then the perfect pair of Doggles would be the next step. Tiberius: You are soooo full of yourself. He's a nervous wreck who likes to dress up, don't let him fool you guys! Bicycle: Okay, okay, you get that one, but I'm not a wreck...I just like to dress up. I bet I get more cookies than you do. :-) Tiberius: So, let me get this straight...you wore a bikini top with a grass skirt in public for a cookie and that makes you cool? Whatta nerd. Bicycle: I think that makes me comfortable with my manhood and well-adjusted. And, yes, I got extra cookies when you were busy licking the ground. Dork.

Bicycle: I hope that helped. If not, just email me privately to avoid the "guest" breaking in.

With many sloppy dog kisses,

Bicycle

To send Bicycle a question, just send him an email : bicycle@twodogspaws.com_____________________________________________________

Q: "Hi, Bicycle. Our human slave, Gordon, gets cranky with us sometimes because we are so much work. We think he would be in a much better mood if he could make himself a nice pumpkin spice latte in the morning and we know your mom used to be a barrista at Starbucks. Would you ask your sweet, kind-hearted mommy to give Gordon some instructions on how to make a decent latte so he won't be so cranky with us and give us more carrots? Thank you."--from the Lutz Rabbits"The New Starbuck's Barkista?"

Bicycle: Well, first, I must say that I am an excellent rabbit sitter, so, if Kim can't make it sometime, just have her call my mom, she'll set it all up. Really, I just sit and watch...get it? Sitter? Sorry...I asked her how to make a Pumpkin Spice Latte and she said she couldn't tell me for fear she'd have to "swim wit da fishes" and that I "need to cut back on the junk". I don't really understand her most of the time.I still may be able to help you out cuz I always listen, especially in the kitchen ;-) She used to talk about steaming the milk and although she likes nonfat, she used the good stuff for latte's because it's easier to get good foam if there's fat in the milk. The key, apparently is to get the foam going first, then put the metal steamer thing all the way in the milk until the temperature is good. I could be wrong, but I remember hearing her say 160, so that might be the temperature.Don't tell her I told you this, but when she was working at like 5am, she would dream right before she woke up and be talking about Starbucks stuff. She would say things like,"have the milk ready, add the syrup, pour the shot, pour the milk, top with foam"...I can only think that's some kind of recipe! Shhh...here she comes.I say tell your pops to play around and find a recipe that works for him. Maybe he'll give you some extra carrots if I get him a Starbucks Barkista to deliver his pumpkin spice lattes and he can sleep in for a change.

With many sloppy dog kisses,

Bicycle

p.s. Coffee is not good for animals...keep pets away from all sources of caffeine at all times! My little brother is 25 pounds and ate like 10 coffee beans once. He had to be rushed to the ER because he was shaking, panting, and his heart was beating really really fast. Please be careful!

To send Bicycle a question, just send him an email : bicycle@twodogspaws.com_____________________________________________________

Q: "Why does my dog sleep so much? He seems kind of lazy. He's not fat and when he wants to, he has plenty of energy. It's just that sometimes we can't wake him up very easily and he snores, sleeps upside down, and dreams a lot. What's his deal? Is he lazy or should I be worried?"--from Frank's dad in Sierra Madre

"Naps are cool"Bicycle: How old is this guy? He sounds like we could be related. It doesn't sound like such a bad life to live...sleep all day, toss a ball for a few, sleep some more, dream, drool...I'm in! You know, there are a lot of factors that go into trying to figure a dog out. Age, food, body condition, health issues, excercise level, environment, etc. all have a say in how your dog acts, and his energy level.This guy, Frank, sounds just like me. I thought you were my mom writing in for a second. I sleep a lot, snore, drool, dream, and, yes, you can find me upside down most days from 10am to 4pm. I'm about 50 lbs., 10 3/4 years old, have bad hips & back, and I like to lounge...I'm kind of an old dude and that's what we do. I was always a sleeper, though. Been mellow my whole life and just play when I feel like it. That's me, though.Back to frank...if he is older, expect some slowing down. Have him checked for arthritis, because that's what happens to us. And a blood test wouldn't hurt, either. Vets can find some crazy stuff that I would never think of...thyroid, for example....what the heck is that? But, if he's younger, he might just be a mellow kind of kid. If you live a relaxed lifestyle, so will your dog. I guess what I'm getting at is that you know your dog better than anyone so if you've noticed a drastic difference in his behavior or activity, get him checked out. Or if he's older and hasn't had a check up within the last 6 months, it can't hurt. If he's just a mellow Sleepy Sleeperson, then grab your camera and take the opportunity to put sunglasses on him and start a blog.

Hope I helped. Send me an email and let me know how it goes bicycle@twodogspaws.com or if you have anymore questions.

"Just vaccuum me...please!"Bicycle: Well, I can only speak for myself in that I love any affection my mom gives me cuz I adore her and she's very gentle. So, I enjoy being brushed because it feels great! I don't mind having my ears cleaned, but it tickles sometimes, so it's not my favorite thing. And, as far as my teeth being brushed...well, I love it because the toothpaste is super yummy. Don't tell my mom, but I once tried to eat a whole tube and haven't seen it since. I think she hid it from me.I also have been conditioned to let the vet, the techs, or my mom do what they need to do to keep me as healthy and happy as possible...really, since I was a pup. It made a big difference in how accepting I am of all that doctor stuff.Please realize that I am not exactly the most normal dog...I mean, I love to be vaccuumed! The bigger the vaccuum, the more I like it...bring on the shop vac!

I hope this helps you understand how very different we all are...and if you'd like some tips on how to perform the everyday doggie maintenance tasks, let me know...